Grapevine
by LongLiveSpring
Summary: Set to graduate early with a dual degree in bio engineering and toxicology, honor student Sakura Haruno dropped all her classes and disappeared, leaving her friends shocked and her family disappointed. Due to the uncharacteristic nature of her actions, a missing person report was filed, but dropped when they got word from the girl themselves. "Please, don't look for me."


_Near the borders of Takigakure, Spring_

A young woman crouched silently in the shade of a large willow, staring intently at a plant growing near the side of a pool of water. In a red leather bound book, a detailed sketch of the plant was being completed. Special note of its foliage growth, stem length, and general location was taken in excruciating detail. The girl huffed, shifting her weight on the balls of her feet as she erased a small portion of the leaf she had sketched, before properly drawing the rugged edge of the plant leaf.

"Wild Ginseng, spring," She mumbled, scribbling meticulously before putting away her notebook and pencil into a satchel at her waist. She ran a hand through her disheveled pink locks, pulling out the loose ponytail and retying it into a tighter bun near the crown of her skull. Sakura stood slowly, letting blood flow back into her pale legs and stretched upwards, the vertebrae within her spine popping as she did so. A quick look over of the surrounding area told her of the fertility and growth of the population of ginseng in the area. Pulling spade out of her satchel, she neared a more mature looking plant to take back with her for use. Ever so gently Sakura loosened the soil around the plant with preciseness, careful not to damage the roots of the plant or any other surrounding plants. While procuring a sample, she did not want to damage the habitat of the plant she was harvesting. Ginseng was a rare specimen, and she did not want to ruin the sanctity of the population growing in the area.

Once her sample was procured, and she filled the hole with remaining soil the young woman gently plucked a ripe berry from a nearby ginseng sample and planted it in the hole the previous plant was pulled from.  
"There we are," She said, smiling at the roots of the Ginseng plant. She twisted it in her soil covered hands, wiping off any larger chunks to examine it for parasites or disease. Finding none, she placed the plant into a cotton sack and deposited the sack into her satchel. A warm breeze carrying the scent of spring water blew over her as she left the shade of the willow tree, causing the young girl to smile. There was nothing better than the calm, pacifying presence of nature.  
"Maybe it's fate," She wondered aloud, thinking of her own floral pink hair and deep green eyes. With her unique coloring she looked as though she belonged in a green house, flourishing with the plants and relishing under the deep blue sky and warm sun.

" _Sakura-chan!" A yell sounded from outside her window, before a small rock pinged against it. The girl in question chuckled, before going over to her window. As she opened it, another rock struck her in the forehead._

" _Ouch- Naruto! I'm right here, you dork! Watch where you're throwing those things," She exclaimed, a hand touching the spot where she was struck. She glared down at her exuberant friend, who had the decency to look bashful. She leaned out the window to get a better look at her friend._

 _"Sakura-chan! We're going to the lake today-do you want to come?" Naruto yelled up in a raspy attempt at a whisper, not eager to alert the girl's parents to his presence._

 _His attempt at silence was amusing to the girl. Naruto had gotten caught at her window more times than he could count on his hands, and even though the young woman had talked to her parents, they spared him no mercy with the broomsticks._

 _Sakura turned around to glance at her door. Her parents had her on a strict schedule to study for at least another hour and a half. The lake sounded like a great escape from her current mental strain._

" _Yeah, I'd love to," She looked down, giving him a grin that rivaled his own, "Just give me a minute, okay!"_

 _As she pulled away from the window, she quickly spread out another stack of books, opening them to make it appear she had been working. She went over to a small cd player, and put in a CD tape with several classical albums on it._

" _Study music to help you think!" Her mother claimed, while her father chimed in with a "Much better than pop music nowadays!" Her parents were such nerds; it was where she had gotten her brains._

 _Sakura pulled out a cute red and white one piece along with a white cover-up, shoving it into a beach bag that already contained a towel. Several other necessities later she leaned back out the window, giving Naruto a thumbs up before tossing her bag over. He caught it with a slight thud._

" _I'll be down in a second!" She exclaimed, before climbing out of her window and crossing over to a large magnolia tree that shaded the eastern half of her house. The branches were thick and reliable and had gotten her down more times than she would care to admit._

 _Sakura landed on the ground silently, rolling on the balls of her feet. Giving Naruto a cheesy grin, they ran off to meet their friends at the lake._

Sakura paused in her step, a wave of guilt crashing over her at the thought of her best friend. Gods, she hasn't seen him in two years and the flashback brought memories to her she hadn't thought about in that time. Hopefully her blonde ray of sunshine wasn't mad or disappointed in her for leaving without a trace.

Thoughts of her old friends soon faded from her mind as she made her way silently through the forest, taking care to not trample and destroy plants in her wake. She found her way back to the dirt road that led back to the quaint village she was currently residing in. If her studies were right, she had only two more plants in this region that needed to be studied and collected. After that, she'd finish off this region in her journal and move on to the next.

Sakura scanned over her list of next possibly countries she could visit. Sunagakure wasn't pleasant during the summer season, but the toxins located in many of their nature species could be used medicinally. Aha! She'd just travel through Kuso and Ame during the dryer summer months and as the weather begins to cools she'll then go to the Land of the Wind. It was the perfect plan. Her only hesitation was how close to the Land of Fire she'd be. It'd be the closest she's been to her home country in two years, and the thought of being found caused a knot of dread to form in her stomach.

Inhaling deeply, she enjoyed the gently warm air. It flowed into her lungs soothing away her worries and reminding her why she had left in the first place. She wasn't proud of herself, but she wouldn't regret her decision to leave.


End file.
